Second Strike
}} |} Star Wars: Second Strike is a fully cast three-part audio drama produced by Rayzur's Edge Audio. Second Strike was the first audio drama written and directed by Nathan P. Butler, while its second act was the first to be produced by Butler. The first act's producer was Christopher Hanel in one of his only fan audio duties outside of Digital Llama Productions. Summary A year and a half after the Battle of Endor, the Empire is still strong, but fragmenting. Various warlords have begun staking their own claims. One such warlord is former Imperial Moff Arilus Dehrahn. When a New Republic Intelligence mission to Dehrahn's capital world, Ferri'sol, goes bad, it's up to a New Republic Special Ops team, Valkan's Rayzurs, to pick up the pieces. Enter our group of "heroes." They're not perfect, they're not Jedi, and they're certainly not well-adjusted in some cases, but this isn't a space opera. This is war, and they're out there fighting it, each one knowing that for every success a price is paid in blood, and every mission could be their last. Cast *'Nathan P. Butler' as Jaren Valkan, Convoy Captain, Closing Narrator (Acts II and III) *'Clay Kronke' as Arilus Dehrahn *'Christopher Hanel' as Klo'pa'deen, Lom Darus, TE-520, Hammer 3, Closing Narrator (Act I) *'Ian Bowie' as Lolat Gastun, Bon Wobin (Trooper Sergeant) *'Kristoffer Newsom' as Lanas Zlauter *'Kate Chappell' as Shista Ti'lana *'Amy Ferrell' as Kristara Eri'lur *'Michael Haspil' as Jivs Korus *'Pete Sutton' as Tathan Aldric, Swoopie 1 *'Matthew Gordon' as Kal S'Darcis, Computer Narration Voice, Liberation's Scythe Computer Voice, Central Control, Swoopie 3 *'Kate Singleton' as Nadix Rovas *'Emily Savage' as Elimy Vasage (Resistance Fighter 1) *'Adam Fisher' as Madan Shurr (Resistance Fighter 2) *'Branden Boetticher' as Security Guard SC-5 *'Andrew Gordon' as Citadel Control *'Richard Brookes' as Brookz Rijart (Imperial Squad Leader) *'Kurt Luther' as TE-258, Game Voice, Prefect Noda Ganzivan, Alois Fury Computer Voice *'Billy Buehler' as TR-519, Commander Shandler Zimms *'Christopher McCullough' as TR-521, Kol Zurka *'Mike Mitchem' as TR-525, Hammer 1 *'Chad Peter' as TK-723 *'Kevin Blades' as TE-985 *'James DeRuvo' as Ruvan Jamz (Sniper) *'Eric Slater' as Hammer 2 *'Andy Myers' as Swoopie 2 *'Gedaly Guberek' as Resistance Lookout *'Jeff Thompson' as Resistance Sensor Officer *'Sean Koury' as Resistance Weapons Officer *'Scott Schlosser' as Gun-Toting Resistance Officer *'Ben Howe' as New Republic Sensor Officer, New Republic Field Commander *'Lou Tambone' as New Republic Comm Officer *'Ruben van der Leun' as Transport Pilot *'Bryan Harley' as Ash Flight Leader *'Andrew Marnik' as Marnik Dru (Fang Leader) *'Hazen Nester' as Gunship Pilot *'Nick Long' as Lt. Tido Mazon (Dehrahn's Aide) *'Cecil Fish' as Comm Officer Ka'Sun *'Michael Smith' as Plitar Shuun *'Kevin Kittle' as Colonel Harriman Braunt *'Jeff Yankey' as Guardsman Cor Javos *'Abe Peterka' as Opening Narrator Background Information *While there have been other fan-created Star Wars audio projects, Second Strike is lauded to be the first of its kind; a longform fan-created Star Wars audio drama created with the specific intention of internet distribution. It was the second to enter production, however, behind Rise of Nobility. *The original story of Second Strike was intended to be a fan film. The project, a gritty war drama set in the Star Wars universe, was to be a second attempt at a fan film after the intended release of the original fan film Prelude to Hope by Devon Read. However, the original Prelude to Hope was never completed, thereby derailing the Second Strike film project. The first part of Jaren Valkan's opening monologue in Descent was written by Read as part of the "gritty war drama" treatment. *Since there was not a "fan audio community" established at the time, many of the voice actors were pooled from personal friends of Butler, as well as casting notices on various fan film message boards. *''Second Strike'' had a number of other working titles when it was being written as a fan film, including Blood and Freedom and Blood and Power. As an audio drama, the title The Second Insertion was also considered, but was abandoned due to unfortunate sexual connotations. *The name of Nathan P. Butler's production company Rayzur's Edge Audio was derived from the team Valkan's Rayzurs from Second Strike. The term was first used in the opening narration of Second Strike: Descent. *The audio mixing duties were split between the producers. Descent was mixed by Christopher Hanel (along with the first scene of All Fall Down), while All Fall Down (minus the first scene) and Ascension were mixed by Nathan P. Butler. *John Williams' scores for the Star Wars films were used very sparingly to score Second Strike. Instead, Butler and Hanel opted to use music that was not as easily recognizable to provide the atmosphere of being an atypical Star Wars story. Among the music used were tracks from the soundtracks to the films ''The Crow'', ''K-Pax'', and ''The Princess Bride'', the animes ''.hack//SIGN'' and ''X TV'', and the video games ''Final Fantasy VII'' and ''MegaMan''. Some voices and sound effects were also taken from ''Street Fighter II''. *Mathew Gordon performed all of the audio effects for his various characters, much to the delight of Act I mixer Christopher Hanel. It is rumored that Hanel owed Gordon a drink for saving him time while mixing. It is unknown whether or not Gordon ever took advantage of Hanel's offer. *When released in 2002 and 2003, Second Strike was initially criticized for pushing the limits of the level of violence and adult content in Star Wars storytelling, which had been "PG-rated" up to that point. Violence in the Star Wars universe was increased soon after with Expanded Universe materials such as the Clone Wars and New Jedi Order storylines (particularly the novels of Matthew Stover), and the film release of [[Wikipedia:Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith|''Revenge of the Sith,]] which was the first ''Star Wars film given a PG-13 rating due to its level of violence. Supplemental Materials In the years following the initial release of Second Strike, a fair amount of supplemental materials have been released. *''Visual Commentary Editions'' - MP4 video files of each act of Second Strike. The audio of the act plays while the video displays textual notes about the production. *''Annotated Scripts'' - PDF files of the scripts to each act of Second Strike, with notes about the production included. *''Rayzur's Edge Audio Guidebook'' - PDF file that acts as a sourcebook (similar to an Essential Guide) for the entire "universe" (or "Butlerniverse," as Rich Sigfrit referred to it) created by Nathan P. Butler for his Star Wars fan productions. Awards Received * 2004 Fan Audio Academy Awards - Best Audio Drama, Longform * 2004 Fan Audio Academy Awards - Best Writer for an Audio Drama (Nathan P. Butler) * 2004 Fan Audio Academy Awards - Best Mixer for an Audio Drama (Nathan P. Butler) * 2004 Fan Audio Academy Awards - Best Director for an Audio Drama (Nathan P. Butler) * 2004 Fan Audio Academy Awards - Best Use of Music in an Audio Drama (Nathan P. Butler, Christopher Hanel, Jennifer Armstrong, Ian Bowie) * 2004 Fan Audio Academy Awards - Best Actor in an Audio Drama (Matthew Gordon) * 2004 Fan Audio Academy Awards - Best Actress in an Audio Drama (Amy Ferrell) * 2004 Fan Audio Academy Awards - Best Supporting Actress in an Audio Drama (Kate Singleton) * 2004 Fan Audio Academy Awards - Best Original Audio Drama Character (Shista Ti'lana) * 2004 Fan Audio People's Choice Awards - Best Audio Drama, Longform * 2004 Fan Audio People's Choice Awards - Best Writer for an Audio Drama (Nathan P. Butler) * 2004 Fan Audio People's Choice Awards - Best Director for an Audio Drama (Nathan P. Butler) * 2004 Fan Audio People's Choice Awards - Best Use of Music in an Audio Drama (Nathan P. Butler, Christopher Hanel, Jennifer Armstrong, Ian Bowie) * 2004 Fan Audio People's Choice Awards - Best Actor in an Audio Drama (Clay Kronke) * 2004 Fan Audio People's Choice Awards - Best Supporting Actor in an Audio Drama (Michael Smith) * 2004 Fan Audio People's Choice Awards - Best Original Audio Drama Character (Tie: Shista Ti'lana, Arilus Dehrahn) External Links [http://www.starwarsfanworks.com/secondstrike.html Second Strike at Star Wars Fanworks] Category:Rayzur's Edge Audio productions Category:Audio Dramas